Public Humanities blogs

Dr. Zoë Wool's new piece for Somatosphere

John Mulligan — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 19:08:27 +0000

Doctor Zoë Wool, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and a leader in Rice's Medical Humanities program, has published a new, multimedia piece for the online scholarly journal, Somatosphere.

Wool's piece, "Homunuculus Revolts: Re-Figuring the Neurological Subject," introduces readers to a curiously persistent figure in medical literature, the "little man in the brain" who represents both the universal structure of the brain and at the same time the violent underside of biomedical research. Wool shows how the insistence on normative bodies both produces and flees from its opposite in the stretched and dismembered visualizations of the brain's relationship to our anatomy as a whole.

Her essay closes with a case study that reminds us of the importance of such representations: an Irish woman who was essentially tortured to death by a physician both fascinated with a tumor in her head and convinced of her biological inferiority.

The article is available online at Somatosphere.org: https://humanities.rice.edu/academics/programs/medical-humanities/faculty-spotlight/zoe-wool

Putting South Asia on Display at the British Museum: September 25th Lunch

John Mulligan — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 19:04:42 +0000

Jean Jacques Lequeu: The architectural imagination in the Age of Reason

John Mulligan — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 19:00:20 +0000

Barry Bergdoll Lecture
Menil Drawing Institute (1412 W. Main Street, Houston, TX)
Thursday, November 14, 2019
7:00 p.m.

Professor Barry Bergdoll will present a lecture on the occasion of the exhibition, Jean-Jacques Lequeu: Visionary Architect, Drawings from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, on view at the Menil Drawing Institute October 4, 2019 – January 5, 2020. Draftsman and architect Jean-Jacques Lequeu (1757–1826) left a corpus of drawings to the Bibliothèque nationale de France that had been largely forgotten until the publication, in 1953, of Emil Kaufmann’s influential essay "Three Revolutionary Architects: Boullée, Ledoux and Lequeu.” Since then, Lequeu’s work has been associated with the radical geometric abstraction of the more famous architects Claude Nicolas Ledoux and Etienne Louis Boullée, as well as with a genealogy of modernism. This trio was further consolidated in an important exhibition in Houston in 1967-68 supported by the Menil Foundation titled Visionary Architects: Boullée, Ledoux, Lequeu. While these publications and exhibition made famous an unknown figure's spectacular and fantastic drawings, they created a set of associations that have obscured the difficult task of relating this work both to the world of the late 18th and early 19th century France and to the puzzling private universe of the draftsman. In this lecture, Bergdoll will suggest trajectories for reading and understanding Lequeu's place in the history of Enlightenment and Romantic architecture.

Barry Bergdoll is a specialist in late 18th and 19th century French and German architecture, and the author of numerous works on the period, including the textbook European Architecture 1750-1890 in the Oxford History of Art series. He is Professor of Art History at Columbia University and former Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art.

This lecture is organized by the Menil Collection in partnership with Rice University’s Humanities Research Center, Rice Architecture, and Rice Design Alliance.

This program is free and open to the public; limited seating is available on a first-come first-serve basis. Further information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.

Facebook announces new steps in effort to allow users to ask health questions anonymously - Professor Kirsten Ostherr is quoted

nh22 — Thu, 02 May 2019 16:11:26 +0000

Millions of Facebook users have joined groups to talk about health care issues ranging from rare disease diagnoses to chemotherapy side effects. Now, the technology giant is taking steps it hopes will encourage those conversations while affording users more privacy. Read more.

Rice U. humanities students gain new pathway into medical school

nh22 — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 15:16:34 +0000

Below is the article by Katharine Shilcutt, a media relations specialist in Rice University's Office of Public Affairs.

Humanities students interested in health care careers will have a new pathway into medical school thanks to an agreement struck between Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

The Medical School Humanities Program at Rice is the first of its kind in the United States and a response to a nationwide demand for more intellectual diversity among medical school applicants. Rice students majoring in such humanities fields as history, philosophy, English and the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality will complement their Bachelor of Arts degrees with undergraduate coursework in biochemistry, physics, organic chemistry and related fields.

After they successfully finish the program and meet its other requirements, which include a minimum GPA of 3.7 GPA and Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) score of 510, the students will gain admission to the McGovern Medical School. Up to eight qualified Rice juniors a year will be accepted into the program.

“The Medical School Humanities Program is very much an expression of shared convictions on the part of Rice Humanities and UT’s McGovern Medical School, and that shared conviction is that medicine needs more humanities-trained doctors,” said Kirsten Ostherr, the Gladys Louise Fox Professor of English and founding director of the Medical Humanities program at Rice.

“The humanities bring a dimension to understanding social and cultural differences, to understanding the role of history, to understanding how different forms of communication shape patient outcomes – skills we know on the humanities side are incredibly valuable to students as they grow into becoming future doctors,” she said. “And what’s really gratifying to us is that medical schools are not just recognizing the value of those skills but actively seeking out students with those skills.”

The new assured admissions program builds on the university’s long-standing relationship with the Texas Medical Center and the School of Humanities’ popular interdisciplinary Medical Humanities program.

“The Medical School Humanities Program will give encouragement to those whose inclination or passion might be within the humanities to apply and be successful in medical school,” said Margaret McNeese, vice dean for admissions and student affairs at UTHealth’s McGovern Medical School. “These are people who are often discouraged and do not apply to medical school, and I’d like to prove to everybody that these individuals are as good as anybody we’ve got.”

“We’re supposed to be training physicians for the 21st century and these individuals need a broader background than just science,” she said. “Being able to walk into a room and deal with patients using that broader background can be an asset.”

“Throughout time, the physician has been called upon to render complex ethical judgments and assess questions of value,” said Kathleen Canning, dean of the School of Humanities and the Andrew Mellon Professor of History. “Familiarity with humanistic thinking can sharpen self-awareness and openness to the experiences of others.

“Through this collaboration with the McGovern Medical School, we seek to meet high student demand and faculty interest while attracting new scholars focused on the humanistic dimensions of medicine,” she said. “Our aim at the School of Humanities is to respond to the nation’s need for the development of a more humane and equitable health care system that provides benefits to all through ethical, culturally informed medical training and practice.”

“This new program is a natural collaboration for McGovern Medical School. Our medical school teaching is rooted in understanding the scientific basis of health and disease bolstered by compassionate care and teaching the appreciation of medical history and the humanities through our McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics,” said Barbara J. Stoll, dean of McGovern Medical School and H. Wayne Hightower Distinguished Professor. “Our students, residents, alumni, faculty and staff work every day to carry on the McGovern ideals of excellence, humanism and compassion.”

“This collaborative program represents a fantastic example of how all of Rice can successfully connect with institutions of the TMC,” said Rice Provost Marie Lynn Miranda. “I am delighted that this new opportunity has become available for our very talented humanities students.”

Rice students in their junior year may submit applications to the Medical School Humanities Program beginning Fall 2019. The first cohort of students will be accepted into the program Spring 2020.

Alt-Ac Fellow Elena Valdez Co-Curates Latina/o Exhibit

John Mulligan — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 22:59:51 +0000

"The Art of Children's Illustration: 25 Years of Piñata Books."

We are proud to announce that on Saturday, February 2nd at 12:00pm, an exhibit of illustrations for Latina/o American children's books will go on display at the historical Julia Ideson building's beautiful second-floor gallery. The exhibit was co-curated for Arte Público Press and the Houston Public Library by Elena Valdez, our 2018-19 alt-ac fellow. Elena is currently finishing her Ph.D. in the English department.

Below is an excerpt from Elena's introductory remarks for the opening event:

When I combed through the boxes of illustrations at Arte Público Press, I began thinking about the role illustrations play in children’s literature and how visual art functions as a powerful educational tool.

Some of the illustrations and prints made me recall a trip to my mother and father’s favorite restaurant when I was about seven or eight years old. The restaurant catered to working class families like mine. It was small and a little shabby, but it was the kind of place where you could get pozole with menudo anytime of the year for a reasonable price and you’d run into at least one person you knew every time you visited.

This one particular trip, we sat at a table pushed up against a wall. Hanging on the wall and to my left, just above eye-level, was a large poster. From far away, the poster looked like a portrait. There was a huge face of a man with black and white hair who reminded me of one of my uncles. Up close, I could see the face was made up of what looked like hundreds of smaller people, some holding picket signs in their hands. I became interested in the image immediately, and so I asked my parents who the person in the picture was supposed to be.

“That’s César Chávez,” my mom said. “He was a very important man. He helped a lot of people. He helped the farmworkers.”

This of course led to a conversation about farmworkers, that is, what they do and why they needed help. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that poster, which I later learned featured the work of Octavio Ocampo, introduced me to a facet of American history that I would never hear about at school, at least until I went to college.

All these years later, the memory of the conversation that image created between me and my parents stuck with me. I think this is because the image contributed to my historical knowledge and cultural literacy and, most importantly, it the discussion it sparked was part of a process wherein I learned people like César Chávez are important. Farmworkers are important. People like my mom and dad are important, and I am important. This is exactly the kind of work the visual arts are capable of doing for people of all ages, especially for children.

Thankfully, for 25 years now, we’ve been able to expect this kind of generative experience from Piñata Books. Through bilingual narratives and engaging illustrations, Piñata Books provide young readers with opportunities to see more nuanced representations of themselves, or their neighbors, in similar ways. The original illustrations and prints on display provide an opportunity to think about the role visual culture plays in storytelling, particularly for telling stories that are sensitive to unique cultural experiences and diverse histories.

Conversation with Kirsten Ostherr on The Exam Room Podcast

John Mulligan — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 17:49:58 +0000

Dr. Kirsten Ostherr, MPH, founder of the Medical Futures Lab and head of the Medical Humanities program at Rice, speaks with Bryan Vartabedian, MD, on The Exam Room podcast, for an interesting discussion on everything from human centered design in health care to medical education and e-patients. As a Professor of English and one of digital health’s most interesting anti-disciplinary thinkers, this episode is just plain interesting and will hopefully inspire you to think outside the confines of your silo.

Click through to listen to the discussion.

Medical Humanities Practica Students Take RURS Top Prizes

John Mulligan — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 02:11:18 +0000

At the 2018 Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium (RURS), Miriam Shayeb and Sarah Lasater took home the top awards in undergraduate humanities research. Miriam and Sarah's presentations were condensed versions of the work they presented as part of their final projects in the HRC's practica courses, as part of its medical humanities programming.

Miriam, who became President of the Rice Medical Humanities Club in Fall 2018, conducted her first research practicum as a freshman in the HRC's inaugural semester of the program (Spring 2016), under a public humanities grant funded by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation. Her work that semester the letters of Kezia Payne DePelchin, held in the Rice Fondren Library's Woodson Research Center, produced two excellent treatments of the complex interactions of disease, shifting race relations, and the professionalization of nursing in the postbellum South: Unsung Requiem: African-Americans in the Mississippi Valley Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878-1879 and A Mission of Mercy: Nursing in the Mississippi Valley Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878-1879. In the Summer of 2017, she returned to her interest in the historical and regional analysis of public health, as the HRC's first medical humanities Summer practicum student. Miriam worked, in this practicum, with resources at the Texas Medical Center's McGovern Historical Collections relating to Dr. Joseph Jones, the postbellum president of the Louisiana State Board of health. Miriam's presentation of her final paper, "A Regional Affliction: a Portrait of Dr. Joseph Jones in the New South," won her the award for Excellence in Research in the Humanities at the 2018 RURS competition. Abstract:

Southern history has painted a critical portrait of Dr. Joseph Jones, president of the Louisiana State Board of Health from 1880-1884, whose controversial opinions on quarantine and the federal government served as the source of intense conflict between the national and state boards of health. Dr. Jones’s scholarship and advocacy for local and national public health improvements evolved during his career. His regional gaze, which heavily influenced and skewed his work toward improving the public health and public image of the South, gradually eroded as the necessity for effective national health regulation usurped regional authority in the New South. In the years after his term, Jones recognized the devastating effect of split authority on effective regulation and called for comprehensive national regulation of quarantine. Jones’s evolving perspective on federal authority and disease prevention mirrors the regional debate on federal health regulation amidst national conflict over local interests, regional emphasis, and the authority of a New South in the postbellum United States.

Sarah's work began in the Summer of 2017, in a Summer Medical Leadership internship fellowship she was awarded through the HRC, funded by a grant from the Doerr Institute. Working at Baylor College of Medicine, under the guidance of Jennifer Christner, the Dean of the School of Medicine, she helped a team of researchers prepare for a study of community needs, to inform potential changes to the medical curriculum. Sarah's final summer research paper explored the nature of medical leadership in a changing professional climate: Horizontal Leadership in the Evolving Physician Profession. Her work with Dean Christner's team continued into the 2017-18 Academic Year as a research practicum, during which time she helped the team to conduct field interviews on what community stakeholders believed doctors should learn in the course of their medical education. Her final presentation at RURS in May 2018 was titled, "An Inclusive Care Model: Education, Horizontal Leadership, and Holistic Care." Abstract:

The growing number and diversity of pressures placed on physicians are challenging their positions as, in the words of Paul Starr, the “sovereign” leaders of healthcare; the response to these pressures requires a reassessment of the profession and an evaluation of how the pre-corporatized physician-patient model fails in the current health care environment. An "inclusive model" that integrates key adjacent care players might better serve both physicians and patients. It might mitigate the time-restricting, autonomy-withdrawing effects of initial corporatization by bolstering holistic care and preserving physician autonomy through "horizontal leadership" of care teams—where physicians take a step back from the traditional perception of their profession as sovereignty and step forward in their allying with and understanding of different adjacent groups that affect a patient's care. These theories connect to my research project currently underway at Baylor College of Medicine, which capitalizes on horizontal leadership and holistic care, and envisions new feedback and clinical models by considering other perspectives in medical school curriculum development.

Houston high schoolers investigate artificial intelligence, urban farming and the humanities

ms85 — Wed, 30 May 2018 21:40:29 +0000

This spring's Civic Humanist Program offered a total of 8 events featuring topics about the Medical Humanities and Cultural Heritage. These events included three campus field trips and five off-campus lectures for local Houston high school students.

Our two Civic Humanist fellows this year did an outstanding job. Hannah Biggs, PhD in the English Department at Rice, was Medical Humanities fellow. She offered deeply informed lectures on recognizing and building connections between urban farming, sustainability, and the humanities, as well as fostering best practices in major metropolitan centers like Houston. Biggs also took field trip students on tours of Rice’s community gardens and art exhibits.

*Dr. Biggs in action! Presenting to Yes Prep High School!

Erin Prophet, PhD in the Department of Religion at Rice, was our Cultural Heritage fellow. Prophet’s interactive lectures were both imagination-expanding and super-practical journeys into the nature of artificial intelligence at the crossroads of the humanities and medical practices. With a master's degree in public health (epidemiology), Prophet generously offered her tips and insights into this highly debated topic.

*One of many fantastic slides from Erin Prophet's interactive lecture on artificial intelligence and the medical humanities

Both lectures were full of useful and eye-opening information for students! After their lectures, Prophet and Biggs took students on a tour of Rice campus, showing them relevant sites, such as public art and local gardens on campus, including Jaume Plensa’s ‘Mirror’ sculpture and the James Turrell Twilight Epiphany skyspace. Click here to view information about the skyspace.

Each field trip concluded with a creative writing prompt assigned by Biggs and Prophet respectively, which students started while having lunch near the beautiful courtyard in front of the old Rice Art Gallery linked to Sewel Hall. Overall, students seemed to really enjoy their field trip experience, learning about many facets of artificial intelligence, medicine, and urban farming.

The 2018 Medical Humanities series led by Erin Prophet held the following spring events: Strake Jesuit College Preparatory College High School visited on March 26^th; Furr High School took its first field trip to Rice on April 25^th. Additionally, Prophet gave a wonderful lecture at North Houston Early College High School on February 8^th and one at Yates High School on March 9^th.

The 2018 Cultural Heritage series led by Hannah Biggs held the following spring events: Sharpstown High School visited Rice for a field trip and lecture on March 8^th. Biggs gave extralectures at: DeBakey High School for Health Professionals on October 11th; North Houston Early College High School on October 18th; and Reagan High School on November 3rd.

More field trips and lectures are in store for the 2018-2019 school year. Stay tuned for additional news on the Medical Humanities and Cultural Heritage events with the HRC's Civic Humanist Program!

2017-18 Alt-Ac Fellow Peter Zuk

John Mulligan — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 16:19:13 +0000

Peter Zuk, our alt-ac fellow for the 2017-18 academic year, had an incredibly successful collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine in which he contributed directly as a medical ethicist to two important initiatives. His work in the alt-ac program helped him to think about a broad range of possible applications for his philosophy PhD, which he will defend in September.

In Peter's words, "The HRC’s generous support has enabled me to embark on new research trajectories in data ethics and neuroethics at Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy. I am applying my theoretical training in philosophical ethics and social-political theory as a member of two project teams: Building the Medical Information Commons and Neuroethics of aDBS Systems Targeting Neuropsychiatric and Movement Disorders. The first of these projects investigates empirical and ethical dimensions of large-scale medical data-sharing. The second investigates ethical aspects of next-generation deep brain stimulation treatments for depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and other disorders. These opportunities have allowed me to contribute to collaborative, interdisciplinary work on medical humanities topics of public concern with a focus on stakeholder attitudes, as well as to develop my own independent lines of normative inquiry on these topics.